Corset or like garment



May 25, 1948. l. R. VERSOY CORSET OR LIKE GARMENT Filed Oct. 3, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 5, 1948. l. R. VERSOY CORSET OR LIKE GARMENT Filed Oct. 3, 1946 2 s t 2 Patented May 25, 1948 AUN-ITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE CORSET OR LIKE GARMENT Irving R. Versoy, New Haven, Conn, assignor to The Berger Brothers Company, New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 3, 1946, Serial No. 701,031

4 Claims.

This invention relates to garments, such as waists, corsets, girdles, or the like, and more particularly to a so-called fly to be used to close the space between two meeting edges of adjacent sections of the garment, particularly where such edges are connected by laces or the like so that the edges may be disposed in spaced relation, and this spacing being variable to some extent.

Where corsets, girdles, or similar garments are provided with laces adjustably securing certain of the sections of the garment together, it is not unusual to provide a fly underlying the edges of the adjacent sections, so that this fly'will close the space between the edges and underlie the laces. Usually, this fly is secured at the under surface of one of the sections at a point spaced from the edge thereof, and is sl-idably received under the edge of the adjacent section, so that the latter is adjustable with respect to the fly in order that the latter may lie perfectly flat although the spacing between the edges of the sections may be varied.

Such a construction has certain disadvantages in that it limits to some extent the range of adjustment of the garment. As the fly is secured at one edge to one of the sections, the amount of overlap between the fly and this section is invariable, and it sometimes occurs that when the garment is so adjusted that the edges of the two sections will be spaced a considerable distance apart, the fly will not reach to the section to which it is not secured and, therefore, leave a gap between the edge of this section and the edge of the fly. If, however, the 'fly was not secured to one of the sections it might be sufficiently wide to .close the gap between the sections if it were centered between the edges of the section, so that the overlap would not be all upon one side. The 'fly must, however, be secured or attached to the garment in some manner or it would not remain in place.

I contemplatein the present invention the .provision of a self-centering and detachable fly which is so secured to the garment that it will automatically adjust itself with respect to the opening between the edges .of the garment, so that it will always be centered with respect to these edges and the overlap with each edge be substantially the same, while, at the same time, the fly is detachably secured in place and may be readily removed for any reason, such as for laundry purposes, if desired.

One object of the present invention is to provide a self-centering fly for use with corsets, girdles, waists, or similar garments.

A further object of the invention is to provide a self-centering and detachable fly for girdles, corsets, or similar garments, of such construction that the fly may be readily attached to, or detached from, the garment, and, when attached, will center itself between the meeting edges of 2 two adjacent sections of the garment so that it will properly underlie the laces or other fastening means holding these sections together.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a self-centering and detachable fly for corsets, girdles, or like garments, which fly will be supported by the laces connecting the edges of adjacent sections of the garment and so con structed that the fly will tend to lie flat in a transverse direction but will permit bending or flexing thereof about transverse lines in the direction of its width.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a corset provided with a fly embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary interior view of the front portion of the garment showing the rear face of the fly;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational viewoi the fiy detached from the garment;

Fig. 4 comprises an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the fly taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse-section of the fiy on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. '6 is an enlarged view of one of the stiffening and securing members detached from the fly; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of a fabric used in the construction of the fly.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a corset'designated generally by the numeral In, this corset being provided with front panels or sections II and I2, the meeting edges of which are designed to be secured together by laces [3 in the usual manner.

.A fly M is provided, which, as shown in Fig. 2, is adapted to underlie the laces and to be overlapped to some extent at each side edge by the edges of the sections II and 12. As shown more especially in "Fig. 3, this fly consists of a substantially rectangular panel of suitable material of greater length than width, the dimensions, however, being varied according to the requirements of the particular garment with which it is to be used. As stated above, the fly is not secured to either of the sections it and 12, so that the edges ofboth of these sections may slide over the lateral edges of the fly in order that, regardless of the spacing of the edges of the sections of the garment, the fly willalwayslie in a central position.

Upon its front face, the fly M is provided with a longitudinally extending pocket 55, this pocket being upen at its upper and lower ends and being relatively narrow with respect to its length. The length of this pocket will vary according to the requirements of the particular garment with which the fly is employed as will be hereinas will be hereinafter described. the pockets should not extend below the point at which flexing or bending is desired. I 1

stiffening members, indicated at I6 in Fig. 6, are telescoped or slipped within the pocket, these members being formed of flexible material, such as light sheet metal, for example, and, as shown in Fig. 6, these members are folded upon themselves at one end and, as illustrated at I'i, providing a hook end portion and a loop I8 at the junction of the portion :6 and I1. As shown in Fig. 3, one of these members will be slipped in the pocket at each end thereof, so that a loop I8 will project from each of the upper and lower ends of the pocket. 7

As shown in Fig. 6, the portion ll of the stiffening member tends to stand at an angle to the portion I6 due to its inherent resilience, so that when both portions I6 and I! are telescoped within the pocket the member will be frictionally retained therein by the tendency of the portion I! to spring apart from the portion I6, although by grasping the loop I8 the user may readily withdraw the stiffening member from the pocket.

Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the portions I6 of the stiffening members are designed to overlap within the pocket so that the same stiffening members may be employed, even though the length of the pocket be varied, it being only necessary for the manufacturer to make these members of one standard length. Also, it will be noted that the laces I3 pass through the loopsv ii! at the upper and lower ends of the pocket and that the fly is thus attached to the garment. This loop will naturally assume a position at the point where the laces cross, which will be at a point centrally disposed between the edges of the sections II and I2. Therefore, regardless of the spacing of the edges, the fly, when secured in this manner, will be self-centering, so that the pocket which is at the center of the fly will lie below the crossed portions of the laces and thus provide for the same amount of overlap of the edges of the sections I I and i 2 and the lateral edges of the fly.

When the fly is attached to the garment, it will probably be convenient to first thread the laces through the openings in the edges of the sections I I and I2, and after the fly is placed in position under the lacings, insert the stiffening members in the pocket with the end l1 hooked over the laces which are to pass through the loop I8. As the stiffening member is further inserted, the laces will automatically move into the loop untilthe parts are in the final position shown in Fig. 3.

As previously stated, it is desirable that the fly lie flat in the direction of its width and resist bending to some extent about lines extending longitudinally from its upper and lower edges but be free'to bend or flex along transverse lines below the, pocket I5 in order that the garment may accommodate itself'to different postures of the wearer. This may be effected by stiffening members extending transversely of, or across the width of, the fly. Preferably, however, I' prefer to construct the fly out of material provided with stiffening threads extending in a transverse direction, which threads may be made of anysuitable plastic material. The threads extending 1ongitudinally of the fly will be of the usual fabric so that the latter will be free to bend along transverse lines except where this bending is prevented by the stiffening members within the pocket. With such construction, however, bending or wrinkling alon longitudinal lines will be resisted, so that the fly will lie flatly below the laces as is desired, and the use of transverse stifiening members which are somewhat bulky may be avoided.

It will be seen, therefore, that with the present construction the full width of the fly is made available to permit adjustment of the meeting edges of the garment, which is not the case if the fly 'were secured to one of the sections. Moreover, the fly will always be self-centeringand at the same time, be readily detached from the garment when desired. 7

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is: .7

l. A corset or like garment comprising two adjacent sections, laces securing togetherthe adjacent edges of said sections, a fly freely disposed beneath said laces and adjustable with respect to both sections, said fly having a longitudinally extending pocket upon its front face, a flat resilient stiifening member telescopically received in said pocket, said member having one end portion turned over the body of the memberto lie flatly thereagainst under pressure and form a loop in that end of the body portion, and said loop pro- J'ecting from the pocket and receiving the laces therethrough to secure the fly detachably in place.

2. A garment as in claim 1, wherein the laces are crossed between the. sections, and a crossed portion thereof is received within the loop to center the fly with respect to the edges of the section.

' 3. .A garment as in claim 1, wherein one of said stiffening members is inserted in each end of the pocket, whereby a loop portion projects from each end of the pocket to be engaged with the laces.

4. A corset or like garment comprising two adjacent sections, laces securing together the adjacent edges of said sections, a fly disposed beneath the laces and having a longitudinally ex-.

tending open-ended pocket on its front face, a

pair of stiffening members each having a body portion slidably and frictionally contained in said pocket, one of said members having-a loop portion projecting from the upper end of the pocket and the other having a loop member projecting from the lower end of the pocket, and said laces extending through said loop members to attach the fly to the garment.

' IRVING R. vE soY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent: it

' 2,040,398 Nathanson f May 1 2, 19 36 

